Gone: A Shadow Slayers Story (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 3) by Nellie Steele (best books for 20 year olds txt) 📕

away. They talked for a few moments before Celine nodded. He kissed her cheek before leaving her.

The group watched Marcus depart with Stefano in tow. “Where’s he going?” Damien questioned.

“Urgent business?” Michael suggested.

“Is it normal for someone to leave their wife at a party?” Damien asked Alexander.

“Certainly, he’s left his driver to return Duchess Northcott home,” Alexander assured him.

They spent another forty-five minutes monitoring Celine’s activity. She spoke with several more people before returning to speak with Lady Blackburn. “It appears she’s leaving,” Alexander informed them. “She’s thanking Lady Blackburn for the evening, most likely. We should also depart.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Damien responded. “This is the perfect time to talk to her.”

“Talk to her?” Alexander questioned.

“Yes. Her husband is nowhere to be found. We can corner her alone and talk to her!”

“Corner her? Damien, I must put a stop to this madness!” Alexander responded. “I insist we depart.”

Damien ignored him. “There she goes,” he said to Michael. “Now’s our chance.”

“Yep, let’s go,” Michael agreed.

“Gentlemen!” Alexander began as Michael and Damien followed Celine out of the ballroom. He groaned as he raced to catch up to them. Gray followed him.

They all caught up with Celine as she stood fastening her cape near the front door, waiting for her carriage.

“Celine!” Damien called to her. “We must speak to you. Alone.” He grasped her wrist, dragging her to a nearby unoccupied sitting room.

“Mr. Carlyle!” she exclaimed. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Sorry, Celine. But we have to speak with you,” Damien insisted.

“My apologies, Duchess. My cousin may have imbibed too many cocktails,” Alexander said in an attempt to smooth things over.

“No. No, I’m not drunk,” Damien assured her. “We have to talk. About your life.”

“I’m baffled, Mr. Carlyle. I do not understand the meaning of your statements.”

“Something happened, Celine. Something went wrong. It’s hard to explain this but, you’re not supposed to be married to Marcus Northcott,” Damien explained.

“I beg your pardon?!” Celine spat.

“He’s right, Celine,” Michael chimed in. “The night you promised yourself to him, when you became what you are, it wasn’t supposed to happen that way.”

Celine’s face was a mask of confusion and shock. “We were there that night, Celine, we realize what happened.”

“You most certainly were not,” Celine answered.

“We were supposed to be!” Damien insisted. “Something went haywire. But you weren’t supposed to marry him! We were supposed to be there to help you. To stop you from joining his… cult.”

Celine sighed. “Gentlemen, I have little idea as to what you are referring to. I believe you to be quite mad and I plan to inform my husband of this… outburst.”

“Celine, please listen,” Damien begged her.

“I will do nothing of the sort. Mr. Buckley, I am shocked you are party to this!” she addressed Alexander. “And you, Mr. Buckley,” she added, addressing Grayson.

“That night, you found out your father was dead. You wept over his dead body. And Marcus informed you he would be your new family. He asked you to kill the man who killed your father. To bring him to justice. It all happened in a cave near your sister’s house in Martinique.”

“You do not know of what you speak!”

“Are we wrong?”

“Quite!” Celine answered.

“Then tell me, what did we get wrong?” Damien questioned, blocking her from leaving the room as she stepped forward.

“I shall not! Stand aside, Mr. Carlyle or I shall scream.”

“Just explain how we were wrong, and we’ll drop the entire thing. Please.”

“I did not kill the man,” Celine answered. She struggled for a moment. “I… I assumed I had mortally wounded him, but Marcus assured me he would survive. He asked me to trust him. My husband was correct.”

“Wait, wait, wait, he lived? The guy who murdered your father?” Michael inquired.

“Yes, he survived. He’s still alive to this day, in fact. I have not committed murder at my husband’s behest. Now, as you can see, he holds no malevolent interests.”

“Ha!” Damien laughed. “No malevolent interests? Celine, he is the one responsible for your father’s death.”

“I beg your pardon?!”

“Yes, Marcus Northcott is responsible for your father’s death. He ordered that man to kill the Marquis.”

“I have heard enough of this nonsense. I shall listen to no more! My husband is no more responsible for my father’s death than you or I. How dare you impugn his reputation! I shall not stand for this, sir!”

“We’re telling the truth,” Michael informed her. “Believe it or not, we are. We’re not doing this to hurt you. We’re trying to help you.”

“That’s right,” Damien added. “Stop and consider what we’ve said for a minute, Celine. You’re smart and you’re good at reading people. You’ve got instincts. Use them. Marcus did this to force you to be alone. He promised he’d take care of you, that he’d be your family. He wanted you to feel alone and have no other choice but to turn to him.”

“Gentlemen, I have listened to enough. I warn you to keep your distance from this day forward. If you continue to harass me in this manner, I shall have no choice but to convey your slanderous words to my husband. Good night!” She stormed from the room, disappearing through the front door and into her carriage. The carriage pulled away as they watched from the window.

“Well, that was an epic fail,” Michael stated.

“That was pure madness, gentlemen,” Alexander replied. “If she relays this to Duke Northcott… I do not wish to imagine the repercussions.”

“I’m sorry, Alexander,” Damien apologized. “But we had to do something. I saw an opportunity, and I took it.”

“Your so-called opportunity may cost us our business if not our lives,” Alexander protested. “Now that you’ve made us look like fools and ruined us socially, I suggest we leave before you do any more damage. Unless, of course, you’d like to burn the house down before we depart for good measure.”

Damien opened his mouth to respond but couldn’t find any words to address the situation. He nodded, a sheepish expression on his face. They climbed into their carriage when it arrived and returned